Fox hits winning shot to give Kings dramatic victory
Russell Westbrook had taken over in the fourth quarter and the Kings had let another late lead slip away, but this time De’Aaron Fox came to the rescue.
Fox made a pull-up jumper over Bradley Beal with seventenths of a second remaining to give the Kings a dramatic 121119 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Fox finished with 28 points, seven assists and five steals for the Kings (16-24), who deployed a new starting lineup after losing Marvin Bagley III to a broken hand earlier this week. Fox scored his team’s last nine points over the final 2:41, going 5 of 5 at the free-throw line.
Fox’s free-throw shooting has dropped to 68.1% this season, but he has made 30 of 38 (.789) over the past four games.
“For myself and for my team, to help us get wins and for me to be able to take that next step, I have to make free throws because I know I’m going to get to the line,” Fox said. “… That’s pretty much all it is, continuing to grow as a player, continuing to do whatever it takes to help my team win the game.”
Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, rookie Tyrese Haliburton, Richaun Holmes and Cory Joseph all had nice games for the Kings. Barnes had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Holmes had 18 points and seven rebounds.
Haliburton had 17 points and four assists in his third career start. Hield scored 16 points. Joseph came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Beal scored 29 points for the Wizards (14-24), who lost their fifth in a row. Westbrook recorded a triple-double, finishing with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Rui Hachimura produced 17 points and nine rebounds. Alex Len, who spent the end of the 2019-20 season with the Kings, posted a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Walton had to decide on a new starting lineup with Bagley out due to injury. Walton chose to go with the lineup he often uses to close games, starting a threeguard lineup of Fox, Haliburton and Hield with Barnes at power forward and Holmes at center. That group logged more than 173 minutes together over the first 39 games, posting a plusminus rating of plus-13.5.
Walton said he plans to stick with the new starting lineup for
at least the next few games. Walton acknowledged the Kings will be undersized against most starting units, but they will have to create advantages of their own.
“We realize that we’re going to be pretty small out there to start,” Walton said. “We have to use other things to our advantage – our spacing, our passing, our playmaking, things like that.”
The Kings did a lot of that in a high-scoring first half that featured 16 ties and six lead changes. Sacramento had 17 assists on 24 made basketball with only three turnovers.